The Hindu Business Line : Glenmark arm acquires 7 products in South Africa

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals' South-African subsidiary, Bouwer-Bartlett Ltd, has acquired seven products from P D Pharmaceuticals Ltd for an undisclosed amount.

The brands collectively are expected to garner sales of $2-3 million in 2006-07, the company told the Bombay Stock Exchange. The acquired basket comprises anti-diarrhoeal, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, expectorant, anti-protozoal, anti-acid and multi-vitamin products.

IP Rights

The subsidiary company has also obtained the global intellectual property rights for the products and will initially market the products within South Africa. This could extend to other markets, a Glenmark note indicated.

The Glenmark's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mr Glenn Saldanha, said in the company statement, that the acquisition would strengthen the company's presence in Africa.

The purchase of the seven products from PD Pharma follows Glenmark's acquisition of Bouwer-Bartlett, a sales and marketing company in South Africa December last year. Glenmark then added the sales and marketing entity's 22 products to its product basket.

Big market

South Africa is one of the largest and fastest growing pharmaceutical markets in the continent of Africa and Glenmark has established a subsidiary in the country. The company also has a subsidiary in Nigeria and representative offices in Ghana and Kenya.

Recently, Glenmark's plant in Goa that makes the finished dosage form of medicines was inspected by and received approval from the regulatory authority in South Africa, the company said. This would further assist the company to file additional generics and add to the pipeline in South Africa, the note added.

Glenmark's shares were up 7.27 percent on the BSE, at Rs 255.85.